Scroll down for video, chat replay

By Milan Simonich/Texas-New Mexico Newspapers

Posted:
10/17/2012 08:20:23 PM MDT

Click photo to enlarge

Former U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson, Republican, speaks Wednesday night at a debate held at the Doña Ana County Government Center in Las Cruces. Wilson and U.S. Rep. Martin Heinrich, Democrat, are vying for a soon-to-be-vacant U.S. Senate seat in New Mexico.

LAS CRUCES — In a debate with a bit of everything, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Heather Wilson claimed an alliance with Democratic President Obama on the worthiness of coal mining.

Her opponent, Democratic U.S. Rep. Martin Heinrich, said cutbacks in federal agencies that would be hard for many in his party to stomach were a necessary fact of life.

Wilson, 51, began the night by wishing Heinrich a happy 41st birthday and later gave him cupcakes, but most of the night's pleasantries ended there.

Behind in the polls, Wilson pounded away on her theme that Heinrich's vote as a congressman to cut military spending and other programs by $1.2 trillion had imperiled 20,000 jobs in New Mexico.

Heinrich had a fast reply, saying he made the exact same decision as one of Wilson's supporters, Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona. The vote was to prevent a default and world economic crisis, Heinrich said.

A congressman for four years, he said he had a fine record of fighting for New Mexico's Air Force bases and labs. His campaign sent out examples while the two debated, including Heinrich's work in delaying the retirement of more than 200 fighter jets, 21 of them flown by a wing of the New Mexico National Guard.

About 200 people sat through the hour-long televised debate, sponsored by the Las Cruces Sun-News and KFOX-TV, at the Doña Ana County Government Center, and a few violated the rule against jeering the candidates.

Heinrich stirred the Republican side of the room to groans when he said climate change had contributed to a season of terrible forest fires in New Mexico.

But Heinrich stuck to his position, saying he had a personal history as a logger. Temperatures are higher and humidity levels lower in forests than they were 20 or 30 years ago, he said.

Wilson's opposition to gay marriage — based on procreation and raising children — elicited hoots from the Democrats' section.

But perhaps the night's biggest reaction came when Wilson talked about the need for good schools and local control of them. Heinrich responded that she voted as a congresswoman for the No Child Left Behind Act, which he said had turned his own sons' public schools into places governed by Washington bureaucrats.

At times, the conversation covered the big-picture themes of the race, such as healthcare. But on one occasion it focused on personal grievances.

Heinrich's camp said Wilson violated the debate rules by standing throughout. Wilson's side said she needed to stand to speak directly into the microphone.

On weightier issues, there was acrimony.

Wilson said she favored repealing President Obama's healthcare plan, which she called burdensome and, in parts, poorly designed. Heinrich said he was proud of the work he and others had done to reform healthcare.

More people have coverage and, contrary to Wilson's claims, he said that no benefits were cut from Medicare to pay for the new system.

On energy, Wilson challenged Heinrich in her most aggressive tone of the night. She asked him if he still believed that coal was "a thing of the past," a position at odds with Obama.

Heinrich said he would not apologize for embracing renewable energy, which employs five times as many people in New Mexico as coal does.

He referenced raw numbers from New Mexico's Workforce Solutions Department, which said renewable energy has more than 5,400 workers compared to 1,269 for coal.

One of Heinrich's repeated themes was that Wilson served 10 years in Congress, but complains now about problems she did not solve. He said she contributed to budget problems by voting for wars and tax cuts for the wealthy.

Heinrich also made a point of discussing immigration. When given the chance to ask Wilson a question, he inquired as to whether she supported the Dream Act. It would allow young foreign nationals raised in America a clearer path to U.S. citizenship.

Wilson talked for a minute and then Heinrich reacted derisively: "What you heard there were a lot of words and no answer," he said.

For her part, Wilson, a graduate of the Air Force Academy, accused Heinrich of failing a military veteran who sought a disability he deserved.

"You didn't help him at all. You just pushed the paperwork around," Wilson said without identifying the veteran.

Heinrich said he could not work magic, but that he was the candidate who would fight for the middle class and veterans, so they have the benefits they earned.